not present at the debate but he was in another way. the night was the most tweeted political event in history. jon: and the next debate will be sponsored by the number 2. that was an interesting debate, interesting remark. thanks for joining us. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert on a very different sounding president obama giving a feisty speech on the campaign trail after what bun dates call serious hits he took last night from governor romney in the big debate. well tomorrow to "america live." back in new york, folks i'm megyn kelly. a look back now in denver, colorado where a fired up barack obama has just finished this rally. he was going off on governor romney in that campaign appearance, and we heard a very different-sounding barack obama at this rally. it comes after the president's top campaign advisers, hour after hour hit the air waves

clearly trying to reframe the presidential's debate performs answer. political observers said he looked irritated, annoyed and was unhappy to be on the stage while mitt romney sounded presidential. thousand they try to make the argument that governor romney only won last night because he lied. here is the president moments ago. >> we also had our first debate last night. when i got onto the stage i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. [laughter] >> but it couldn't have been mitt romney, because the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts in pay for the wealthy.

he said the fellow last night on stage said he didn't know anything about that. megyn: he said he wasn't going to pass any tax cuts that weren't paid for. chief white house correspondent ed henry is traveling with the president and he's live in denver. a very different sounding barack obama back in front of the teleprompter this morning. >> big time. he had the teleprompter here. he was hitting mitt romney here as you just showed. senior advisers to the president like david axelrod having conference calls this morning, doing the morning shows incision the president did not lose the debate last night. this rally here tells a much different story, not just the president's words but i spoke to several obama voters here behind me earlier who told me that they believe mitt romney showed them something they had not seen last night. these are obama voters. two of them told me that they thought mitt romney showed gravatas, that he could be on the same stage with the president. nonetheless to be clear these obama voters said they were still likely to be with the

president but they saw something new from mitt romney, a spark if you will. from the president what i saw just a moment ago was a president who seemed to realize that he had missed opportunities last night, that time after time when mitt romney punched him last night he did not counter punch, so he tried to do that today. take a listen to this. >> the man on stage last night, he does not want to be held accountable for the real mitt romney's decisions and what he's been saying for the last year. and that is because he knows full well that we don't want what he's been selling for the last year. [cheers and applause] >> governor romney may dance around his positions, but if you want to be president you owe the american people the truth. >> reporter: now, for example, last night mitt romney at one point said that maybe the president needs a better

accountant to figure out the tax codes. the president didn't really respond with any sort of a shot back at him, but here the president did say something about how mitt romney seems to have a pretty good accountant himself based on how he's doing financial leave. he didn't use that shot last night, he did it today. he also fired back at this rally about big bird saying he mocked mitt romney and said, i'm glad someone is finally taking on big bird. but, again, he did not fire back last night. a lot of democrats, not just republicans wondering why the president did not bring his a game, megyn. megyn: thank you. david axelrod senior adviser to the president saying that the president will look at his performance and, quote, make adjustments, but says i don't see us adding huge amounts of additional prep time for these debates. well among the millions watching last night's debate 24 undecided swing voters from the denver area. 13 leaning obama, 11 leaning romney. after watching the 90-minute battle they shared their impressions with pollster frank

luntz. >> i want to stay with this tee bait, because it was very significant that you guys walked in here undecided, and so many of you have moved towards mitt romney, and i want to understand why. megyn: frank was talking last night about what he saw with that group was unprecedented. just ahead we'll have a big chunk of this focus group talking about what matter erred last night what did not. he did a separate bit with this group for us. we'll show it to you when frank joins us live. mitt romney boosting his support big time among a group of important middle class voters best described as walmart moms. a research firm polled together 30 women who have been shopping at walmart as a common link. a third of these women hispanic. by the end of the debate the governor's image with these women jumped a whooping 20 minutes. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital politics editor and host

of "power play" on foxnews.com. they covered a lot of tkepl graph is. i love how they described who are the walmart moms. it starts out with women who have children, that's helpful. okay i didn't get that from the mom's part. okay. women who have children, they shop at dull mart a. good contingent of them were latina, and they sat around and watched this debate, chris and they came out overwhelmingly feeling that mitt romney won it and that he had significantly improved his image with them by 20 minutes. obama's image moved up just five. your thoughts on it. >> that is the most important demographic in this election in so many ways the romney campaign calls them coupon clippers. these are women who are moderate voters from swing counties who in fact are concerned about the economy, concerned about the direction of the country. they are not in crisis, but they are sure anxious, they are clipping those coupons, going to walmart, driving a little further for a tank of gas. what mitt romney did last night that spoke to those women was

display leadership, display direction, display clear voice, clear eye assessment of what is going on in the country and it obviously stuck. and if he can win with women like that across the country, as he succeeded in that focus group, that would bode very well for his chances to unseat president obama. megyn: the president took shots at mitt romney for not offering a real plan. plan, should he become the president. one of the sound bytes the walmart moms apparently reacted to was mitt romney laying out his five-point plan here. listen. >> my plan has five basic parts. one, get us energy independent, north american energy independent that creates about 4 million jobs. number two, open up more trade, particularly in latin america. crackdown on china if and when they cheat. number three, make sure our people have the skills they need to succeed. and the best schools in the world. we are far away from that now. number four, get us to a balanced budget, number five,

champion small business. megyn: they liked that, they liked when either man talked about the middle class, and they really liked when they talked about education. barack obama when given the open floor, chris to say whatever he wanted on the first answer of that debate went right to education. some of us wondered why he did that. walmart moms were saying that was one of the most important subjects they heard discussed last night. >> you got it. what these women want to hear about, and i've watched the tapes of the focus groups, not this one but others, and when you hear these women talk about this we are talking about household income 40,000 to 60,000 mostly. we are talking about these women who want to know what it's going to take to knock the country out of this torper, that the country is going the wrong direction, what are you going to do? when the president talks about education he talks about it as an investment in the future. when the president talks about education he does those things, those things sound good but they are a promise down the road and these women like most voters are skeptical of what politicians

say. what mitt romney talked about was ill give you now choice. i will give you now opportunities for school. i will do things that will make schools materially better right now. the president talked about spending money on education as a vehicle to future improvement. mitt romney said, i will help your childrens' school now. that soeupbdz better. megyn: and he struggled with latinas, and latinos, he he struggled with women as you pint out. one bit from mitt romney that appealed to these women, these female moms, was when mitt romney talked about the deficit and the debt as a moral issue. listen here. >> i think it's a moral issue. i think it's frankly not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we take in, knowing those burdens are going to be passed onto the next generation. and they are going to be paying the interest and the principle all their lives, and the amount of debt we're adding at a trillion a year is simply not moral. megyn: marco rubio was just on

the show yesterday chris saying that the hispanic voters, they don't care only about immigration. they also care about things like debt, deficit and jobs. >> you make a great point, and senator rubio made a good point. for these women, yes, they hate debt, because it is the cloud that hangs over their lives and their families and their households and they think it's immoral that the federal government has the debt, they don't like the credit card debt that they are care inning their house. a good issue, if you look at all the polls across the spectrum, yes governor romney did very well in this focus group, but he did well across the board with all demographics. a good message that works with one group if it's really good and delivered well they work with all of them. megyn: that is the question about whether governor romney can keep this rolling and get momentum going now with the key voting groups that have been somewhat problematic for him thus far. chris stirewalt thank you. we have frank luntz coming up. we have overnight polling in the

debate. with two polls we will debate what the campaign needs to do to bounce back. new developments. a contract fight at american airlines. it hats interrupted flights for 150,000 -fl travelers in just weeks. new worries about the fighting in syria along with growing foreign policy terrance. that's where the candidates are going next, they will debate foreign policy as a new report shows our consulate in libya was attacked more than a dozen time in the weeks before the murder of four americans on september 11th of this year. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>> i don't know what he was doing out there. he had his head down, he was

enduring the debate rather than fighting it. romney on the other hand came in with a campaign. he had a plan. he was going to dominate the time. he was going to push the moderator around which he did effectively. what was he doing tonight? he went in there disarmed. it was like an hour and a half i think i can get through the thing. he doesn't even look at this guy. romney staring at obama, addressing him like the prey. megyn: that was chris matthews critiquing the president after last night's debate. even president obama's staunchist supporters have expressed disappointment with his debate performance and it seems it was not loss on voters. 48% seemed to believe mitt romney was the stronger leader, compared to 37% believing that about the president. simon rosenberg is president and founder of indiana think tank and advocacy organization, former adviser to president clinton. ben ferguson, host of the ben

ferguson show. across the board the folks believe mitt romney won this debate and it's starting to move some independent, undecide -d voters into mitt romney's column. the question is, ben, whether that will last and how mitt romney capitalizes on that. >> he capital hraoeu capital cap capitalizes on it with what he did last night. what is different than four years ago when barack obama took the stage in mississippi he came out with grand ideas about all of us coming together and how we are going to cut the deficit in half and the world will like us again, and how we are going to get out of iraq and afghanistan. guess what, now he's going to run on what he's done over the last four years and there is not a lot he can point to to say that they were successful. that's what got him in trouble last night. if mitt romney does this the next couple of debates and he continues to go out there in the way he did last night and saying, this is how you failed, this is where you failed, this

is where it's not adding up, i'm not sure barack obama can really come back with actual facts or figures, because he doesn't have those as time to run on. megyn: simon did you share chris matthews' frustration at the president's performance? >> i may have not been as animated as he was last night. the president didn't have a good night. mitt romney had a good night. megyn: what happened to barack obama last night? >> you know, listen we don't know. i think that there was -- my -- if i can guess, megyn i think there was a strategy because they feel like they are winning the election and the polls are still holding today, gallop has today obama at his highest approval rating he's ever had. he's doing well in the battleground states and i think they made a decision not to engage. they didn't want to fight with romney, they didn't want him to lock like he was being mean or angry, and it was clear to me and to many people that that game plan had to change, because romney came out of the gate very strong, obama didn't really

adjust his strategy and i think you saw today already you saw the clips we'll see a different obama going forward. he knows he didn't do a good job, they will be much more engaged and aggressive as they go forward. megyn: the obama we saw today did have the teleprompter back. and even his supporters are pointing out. bill mahr, bill mahr who loves the president and is not a righty. he said i hate to say this but i think he actually might need the teleprompter. >> look at obama today when there is no one to calm pair and contrast or challenge him on the facts he does does an incredible job -fpblt it's the same way he ran on two words of emotion hope and chain. even if you had a redo of last night what could barack obama come out with and say he did well on? he can't say he lowered the deficit, he can't say the unemployment numbers have got even better. megyn: he had counter points to raise. you may not agree with them but they were there to be raised and

the president took a pass. >> i think that's part of the fact is he thought, look i'm the president of the united states of america, i woo people, people love me, he didn't prepare for this last night. it was obvious that he thought he was the heavyweight coming in, and because he's so charismatic he could just walk in there and have a great anniversary night and go back and have champagne with his wife, and he didn't do well, and i think the part was he was shock at how well informed mitt romney was, and how many things mitt romney was instantly able to challenge him and i don't think he expected him at all. megyn: do you think that barack obama is capable, coming back, being feisty, being sort of like mitt romney was last night? some people are raising doubts about whether he is capable of that since he doesn't have the more recent debate experience that romney has. >> yes, and i think to be clear i've talked to a lot of people today. people may have been disappointed with obama's performance last night but nobody is panicking. he's still up in this race by

three or four points. [laughter] >> no, no, ben. >> al gore blamed it on the attitude. al gore blamed it on the altitude and you're telling me they are not panicking. megyn: that comment by al gore was not helpful. >> i think the democrats are not panicking. the lead in the swing states is still strong. romney in the polls right now is getting back up to 46, 47% which is where he was going to be anyway. >> that was before last night. >> ben, ben, please, come on man, you got plenty of time. so i think where romney excelled was in his personal performance, what he didn't excel on is selling his policies and the arguments about how he's going to make the country better. he's going to have to do a better job at that in the future debates. i think you'll see obama in the debate and in television ads dissepl -bl the lies and mistakes that romney made last night in his presentation, which is going to take him down a little bit on the policy side. i think, look, democrats aren't panicking. we didn't have a good night.

we will still win this election. obama has to raise this game and fight much harder if he wants to death this thing done. megyn: in al gore's defense i did feel a little funny when i was in denver too. i want to show you a couple of polls before i let you go from cnn. 67% say romney won, 25% obama. 75 of independents believe that romney won, just 17 say obama won. and when asked, does it make you more likely to vote for romney, 35% said yes, 18% said it's more likely to make them vote for obama. romney may have moved the needle a bit with some of the voters. >> in the cnn debate last night in the session you talked about eight people went for obama, eight people went for romney. if it's eight and eight mitt romney loses the elects. he's still got to get better. megyn: we'll see as the polling unveils over the next few days where the needle really fell. guys, thank you. coming up a big surprise on the campaign trail today. wait until you see what happened when mitt romney's sons showed up with a surprise for him at a

conservative political event about an hour ago. this was something to see. plus new developments in the murder of a u.s. border patrol agent, his family just wrapping a news conference right now. we'll tell you all about it. stay tuned. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

megyn: jets were taken out of circulation following some recent scary incidents in which passengers' seats became loose midflight. trace gallagher has more from our l.a. newsroom. >> reporter: so now the seats have been fixed, megyn, and the airlines are actually back in negotiations with the pilots. you'll recall the contract was

tossed out by a bankruptcy judge, and now the pilots would like contracts similar to united, delta and continental, but if they don't get it, the pilots have already voted on whether or not to strike, gnaw's being -- but that's being kept a secret. the airline is accusing the pilots of calling in sick and calling in bogus reparish shoes, and it's -- reparish shoes. in just the past couple of weeks, two million american airlines passengers have been delayed because one-third of all american's flights are late, and 150,000 passengers have had their flights canceled. then you have the few passengers who, oh, by the way, were in seats not bolted to the airframe, and two nights ago, a plane was forced to make an emergency landing in dallas, and the passengers had to brace for a crash landing. flyers' rights advocates say

passengers should be furious and should sue the airline. the 757s, by the way, with loose seats have been checked out. there's no sign of sabotage, but there is clearly signs of sloppiness, and at 35,000 feet, megyn, they're both just as dangerous. megyn: and now i sense a kelly's court in our near future on that, although not today. trace, thank you. breaking news in the george zimmerman/trayvon martin case, and that's what we're doing in kelly's court. coming up, that story, a major tv network learns that sometimes sorry does not cut it. george zimmerman is filing a lawsuit now against nbc news for the editing of his 911 calls from the night of the trayvon martin shooting. remember, that they edited this tape to make it sound like he was focused on trayvon's race when he was just answering a question by the operator? that is on the docket in today's kelly's court. plus, can a blast from the

past spell new problems for the obama campaign? parts of a 2007 speech that's just now coming to light and what fact checkers found when we looked into the president's controversial remarks about race and relief efforts for the victims of hurricane katrina. also, frank luntz watched the debate with a cross-section of republicans, democrats and independents. he will tell us what they took away from the faceoff. he says it's unprecedented. >> when it comes to the role of government in society, which one connected to you more when they discussed the role of government, romney or obama?

megyn: fox news alert, we confirmed in just the last half hour that fbi agents have now arrived in benghazi, libya, three weeks after the murder of four americans at our consulate. remember, two navy seals, a state department staffer and ambassador chris stevens were killed there on 9/11 of this year. the obama administration initially suggested the violence was sparked by anger over an anti-muslim film posted in part on the internet, but senior u.s. intelligence sources later said this was a deliberate and organized terror attack, and they told fox news that the administration knew that, was informed of that within 24 hours, leaving the question about why ambassador susan rice was sent out to the sunday shows -- among other administration officials -- to say something very different. coming up in minutes, curks t

mcfarlane joins us on new revelations about the security at our embassy just before this attack and a dreadful situation in syria right now. ♪ megyn: but back, now, to our top story today, the fallout from last night's presidential debate. earlier pollster frank luntz spoke to 24 voters from the denver area who watched it. here's what they told him about what they saw. >> megyn, we came to ground zero, the suburbs of denver, colorado. in fact, the suburb that we're in right now has decided more presidential races or voted correctly in more presidential races than almost any community in america. let's see what you thought. how many of you were undecided when you walked in here, raise your hands. the entire group of 24 people. how many of you decided because of tonight, raise your hands. more than half of you. how many decided for barack

obama. one. how many decided for mitt romney? so it's clearly a good night for mitt romney. i want to go right to the dials. this is at the very beginning of the debate. when mitt romney talked about the five points of his program that he would implement if he got elected president, both republicans and democrats dialed it up. let's take a look. >> my plan has five basic parts. one, get us energy independent, north american energy independent. that creates about four million jobs. number two, open up more trade, particularly in latin america, crack down on china if and when they cheat. number three, make sure our people have the skills they need to succeed and the best schools in the world. we're far away from that now. number four, get us to a balanced budget. number five, champion small business. it's small business that creates the jobs in america, and over the last four years small business people have decided that america may not be the place to open a new business. >> so you tell me, why did -- why -- what's so good about that program? why was it so positive to you

all? somebody. >> it's not, it's just not correct. i mean, some issues here you have to look at. i mean, if you cut people's taxes, great. who doesn't want that? on the other hand, if you're going to give them -- take away that same money by changing out the loopholes, you end up with the same thing. why is that going to provide more jobs than what we're dealing with today? nobody's going to have extra money. >> you guys. >> i like the romney-created guiding principles that both democrats and republicans could participate in the decision and implementation of the program. >> i think romney has a very specific plan. he's focused on five specific things, but most of it is jobs. he's all about getting people back to work, raising more revenues because of jobs, and, therefore, not having to raise taxes like he'd have to. >> it would appear to be about leadership and being able to bring people together. not in dividing people. >> not issue, leadership. that's an attribute.

>> it is. but it translate into the individual issues. you have to be able to bring divergent opinions together and craft an outcome. we haven't seen that for four years. >> the interesting thing about the health care debate back and forth was that they actually had more similarities than they had differences, at least in that formassachusetts -- format. but the distinctive difference was that mitt romney kept going back to, which i thought resonated with me, was the bipartisanship buy-in. maybe you get to the same conclusion, maybe you don't, but with you have bipartisan participation that makes it real and relevant going forward. >> now, it's interesting you said that because the issue that you dialed up both candidates was health care. in fact, this is one of the highest moments for barack obama during the entire debate is when he talked about what he was trying to protect wile he passed this health care plan -- while he passed this health care plan. let's take a look at the reaction. >> this board basically identifies best practice and says let's use the purchasing

power of medicare and medicaid to help to institutionalize all these good things that we do. and the fact of the matter is that when obamacare is fully implemented, we're going to be in a position to show that costs are going down. and over the last two years, health care premiums have gone up, it's true, but they've gone up slower than any time in the last 50 years. >> so i know you're decided on health care, like most people are. but clearly barack obama said something about the role of government and protecting people. what was it that was so positive about his message on health care? >> i thought his message was great. we want to protect the things that we have, and i think that his plan does that. um, there are certainly some good and bad in both ways, but i just felt like romney was very noncommittal. he was as confusing as your shoes. [laughter] and he didn't have anything specific to really say how he was going to do it. >> do you guys agree with that? yes or no?

[inaudible conversations] >> my big thing was it wasn't so much that obama said something that was positive, it was romney said what his plan was. he said when my generation hits that age, it's still going to be there, and i totally disagree with that. there's no way it's going to be there in 40, 50 years when i hit 60 years old. >> and you said romney said that. >> yeah, romney said it'll be around when i turn 60 years old, but i totally disagree. there's no way. >> your reaction. >> what i liked about romney said it doesn't really matter yet the specifics of how i do what i say, i have to work together. they can have the best plan ever, but they can't bring both parties together. nothing's going to change. >> and romney did talk about what he did in massachusetts by bringing both parties together. let's take a look at that dial clip because it was almost one of mitt romney's highest. let's take a look. >> first of all, i like the way we did it in massachusetts. i like the fact that in my state we had republicans and democrats come together and work together. what you did instead was to push

through a man without a single republican vote. as a matter of fact, when massachusetts did something quite extraordinary, elected a republican north to stop obamacare, you pushed it through anyway. so instead of bringing america together and can having a discussion on this important topic, you pushed through something that you and nancy pelosi and harry reid thought was the best answer and drove it through. >> now, they both had strong disagreements when it comes to the role of government in society. which one connected to you more when they discussed the role of government, romney or obama? who would say barack obama? one obama person here. [laughter] and who says mitt romney? okay. tell me why. >> again, too much waste on big government. he's more specific, romney is. about specifically where the money's going to go. >> romney talks more about personal responsibility, too, and i think we have gotten so far away from that this our country. >> too many layers of government. >> explain that. >> well, what's happening to us

is that now that obama has added another layer, another group that's going to be looking at what we're going to do and how we're going to live our lives. i'm on medicare, i'm already seeing things that i thought i was going to get, i'm losing, they're canceling my medicare insurance because of it. >> mark? >> very interesting that romney talks about personal responsibility when he talked to the entire country, because when he was behind closed doors, he didn't want to care about 47% of americans, he was talking to small -- >> you know, i think it is a fair attack. i think it's something he should have absolutely addressed. publicly he was like, we're all, you know, we don't want a whole lot of government hands in the pie, but behind closed doors he's saying something different. >> michael, your reaction? >> he did -- [inaudible] but he's saying now, and i hope to believe him, that he's for 100% of us. >> that's the problem with his strategy. >> let's -- i want to stay with this debate because it was very

significant that you guys walked in here undecided, and so many of you have moved toward mitt romney, and i want to understand why. >> but the discussion was about campaign strategy. >> okay, stay with the topic. what moved you because of tonight's debates. >> i'm still undecided, but i think the only thing i think he really -- you said before where he really scored high -- >> get to the point. >> -- was because of his bipartisanship. what he did in massachusetts, getting democrats and republicans to work together, that's what we need. that's why he scored high. >> mike. >> back on the role of government, romney stressed efficiencies and getting things done better to cost less. >> and he gave specific -- >> be no -- no, he didn't. he gave no specifics. >> paula. >> [inaudible] >> tell me, how many of you thought regardless of who you thought won, how many of you thought mitt romney exceeded your expectations tonight, raise your hands. virtually everybody here. how many of you, again regardless of who you thought,

barack obama fell short of your expectations. if obama is watching, if president obama is watching, he clearly is going to have to change his strategy between this debate and the one that he does coming up in ten days' time, because he did not do well with this group of swing voters here in denver. megyn, back to you. megyn: frank luntz, thank you so much. so interesting, listening to that, isn't it? and fresh off of the debate, governor romney and his running mate will appear on fox news tonight. the republican ticket sitting down for a rare joint appearance on hannity at 9 p.m. eastern time. well, a potentially major health concern as the cbc prepares to hold a news conference on the rise in fatal meningitis cases. also, growing foreign policy concerns today as the situation in syria takes a sudden and ugly turn. we'll tell you why some experts say a recent firefight across the border with turkey could have this thing spiraling into

an all-out war, plus the latest from libya.

megyn: fox news alert, back now to the breaking news on the terrorist attack at our consulate in libya. we just got information and reported it to you that fox news has confirmed now, fbi agents have arrived in benghazi, three weeks after the murder of four americans there. now that the fbi has finally arrived at the scene, what more will we soon know about the attack, and what additional elements does this add to the story? joining me now fox news national security analyst kt mcfarlane. so, i mean, just so the viewers understand, you know, we've been told by the administration for weeks now that the state department can't tell us anything, and the doj's not going to tell us anything because the fbi's investigating. but the fbi leader came out,

hadn't even stepped foot in libya because it was too dangerous. if it's that dangerous, then why did we have an ambassador sitting there like a sitting duck? this is the controversy as it's been laid out by those watching the situation. they are there now, where does the story go from here? >> there are three failures, and it's going to be one or all of the above. it's going to be an intense failure, they're going to find out that, in fact, we didn't know there was going to be a problem in that part of libya with. that's a big and major intelligence failure. we never saw the arab spring coming, we didn't see this coming. the second thing that might be wrong is if we did know, where the heck is the security? my pam building in new york city had more security than that ambassador had. so what went wrong? why was the intelligence not recognized and acted upon? and the third thing is, has this been a major fail your of policy? i was in the white house during watergate, and i saw in the nix sob administration -- nixon administration how this all falls out.

the white house is trying to blame everybody. remember, they were blaming the movie, then, well, it's the intelligence community. i think they're now going to start blaming the state d.. megyn: really? >> the career intelligence officers are going to start leaking. that's why you're seeing all of these little cables that are coming out, every day there's a little bit more -- megyn: including today, i want to add to that and correct myself, the information breaking today that a state department officer reportedly told folks on capitol hill there had been 13 threats on that consulate during the six months before -- i think we said 13 attacks before, which wasn't right. >> yeah. that's exactly what's happening. the career bureaucrats know people on capitol hill, in the media, and they are going to start getting their story out because they don't want to be blamed for i. they feel they were doing their job, somebody else -- now, the question is and certainly what happened in watergate, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. is the white house trying to cover this up? megyn: last night's debate was about public policy, but at the town hall next week it's split,

domestic and foreign, and on the 22nd of october is all foreign policy. today we had breaking news in syria where they still have a civil war going on there, and now they say 30,000 syrians have been killed in the context of this civil war, and they inadvertently, they say, bombed some folks over in neighboring turkey, and now turkey is authorizing military operations against syria. they say they're not declaring war, but syria's going to get its, you know, what it has coming after turkish died. kt, the situation in the middle east, very dangerous right now. >> all over the middle east. and the syrian thing is three problems, i call them the three rs. there are refugees that are leading syria to go to those neighboring countries, destable eyeing those countries. these are not wealthy countries that be absorb refugees. secondly, the rebels have safe havens in turkey. that's why the bombing happened. that's why the -- megyn: so it wasn't an accident. >> it wasn't an accident. they were going after the rebels setting up shop in turkey, and then turkey retaliated.

and that whole region is a cauldron. you know, the rhetoric has really ramped up. it's iran, israel, syria, everybody's talking war talk. and the situation's getting much more destabilized. megyn: mitt romney, in advance of these next two debates, is going to give a major foreign policy speech this upcoming week, and as you look at this situation, kt, i mean, syria went off the front pages once we got deep into this presidential election and the mess in libya. but this is a cauldron. 30,000 people dead, we have not gotten involved, children being tortured and murdered. >> absolutely. megyn: is this thing bubbling back up now that we're seeing conflict with turkey? >> it's probably going to get worse. have you ever tried to make rice in a microwave where it blows up? that's happening in syria. it's worse when it starts affecting lebanon, jordan, iraq. the whole region could become much more destabilized. megyn: kt mcfarlane, thank

you. >> thank you. megyn: coming up, an honors student getting a crash course on her first amendments rights after the teacher decided she did not like the teenager's mitt romney t-shirt.

megyn: well, a high school honor student is getting national attention after getting a hard lesson in free speech this week. samantha says she was stunned when her teacher ordered her out of class because she was wearing a romney/ryan t-shirt to school, and she says the teacher made it very clear how she felt about that. trace is here with more. trace? >> reporter: happened on a casual dress day at high school in philadelphia. that girl is samantha, megyn, and as you said, she's an honoring student, but she's not old enough to vote, though she got a very good crash course in

partisan politics. she walked into class wearing the romney/ryan t-shirt or, and it turns out her teacher was an obama supporter. listen. >> i came in, and she said are you wearing a mitt romney shirt, and i said, yeah. she pointed and said, get out of the class. and i said, no. you can't wear a republican shirt in a democratic school. she took a red marker, tried to draw on it, and then she told me to take off my shirt, and she would give me a different one. >> reporter: not just that, she said the teacher's comments also led to critical comments from her class mates and the janitor. the school has confirmed the teacher did make the comments and has issued a statement saying the student was just exercising her right to free speech and that she did nothing wrong. the parents are furious. that statement from the school's not good enough for them, they want the teacher fired. listen. >> an adult that's bullying a child. >> i expect it from the students, but not from teachers. >> reporter: not from the teachers. the teacher, by the way, has

been taken out of that class room temporarily, but as you saw, the parents would like to see it permanently taken out of the class room. by the way, again, not a political science teacher. megyn: even the janitor? >> reporter: a math teacher. yeah. [laughter] the janitor apparently said something. megyn: hey, i hate that t-shirt too. do you mind? [laughter] wow. all right. thanks, trace. >> reporter: okay. megyn: i'm sure a lot of folks are not laughing. well, a big time surprise on the campaign trail when four of governor romney's five sons show up 90 minutes ago at a conservative political event with a very special guest, and wait until you see this in three minutes. and big news today breaking in the george zimmerman/trayvon martin shooting case, and it lands a major television network in kelly's court for its coverage. i'm only in my 60's...

i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses,

i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. megyn: fox news alert on a

special moment for mitt romney after he won new respect for last night's debate performance. brand new hour here of "america live". welcome everybody, i'm megyn kelly. less than 24 hours after the first presidential debate governor romney is already revving up crowds. take a look what happened when he made a surprise appearance at the conservative political action congress in colorado earlier today. oh, stand by. [cheers and applause] megyn: what happened was he had hess four sons there saying the other brother ben,

the doctor, couldn't be there because he was tending to his medical responsibilities but they had one other person who would make a surprise appearance to fill the void and out came of course the presidential nominee himself. standing ovation in response. now we are waiting to hear from the governor in the crucial swing state of virginia. that is where he is now. here is what he said about 60 minutes ago. >> the american people last night were given a choice. they were given a choice between two different visions for america. one where we continue down the road to become more and more like europe. where government gets larger and larger, more and more intrusive in our lives, spending more and more, borrowing more and more, putting us on the road to greece. and the other is the path that returns america to america where we restore the principles of freedom and hope an opportunity that this nation has always been built upon. i will take us there with your help. we're going to take back this country and keep it the hope of the earth. thank you so much. great to be with you. let's get out there and win.

thank you. [cheers and applause] megyn: from a largely successful appearance in denver, colorado, off to virginia and that's where we find our own john roberts who is live in fisherville. hey, john. >> reporter: good afternoon to you, make begin the governor will be on his way here very shortly hopefully to put the virginia in red column where it was since 1968 until president obama won it last time around. the campaign telling me they give a little ho-hum about his candidacy are fully fired up. at the conference he amplified a line he used last night, turning the attacks against trickle-down economics on their head accusing president obama of wanting trickle down government. >> trickle down government will not create jobs americans need. trickle down government will not bring down the cost of energy. trickle down government will not allow incomeses to rise.

freedom is what drives america's economy. >> reporter: even the obama campaign had to admit the governor put in a strong performance even though they did not like it. the governor said he would try to aggressive counterpunch and attacked president obama did that repeatedly over the idea that he wants to implement $5 million for wealthier americans. eventually led to what was probably the most memorable line of the night. >> look i've got five boys. i'm used to people saying something that is not always true but keep on repeating and ultimately hoping i believe it. that is not the case all right. i will not reduce the taxes paid by high income americans. >> reporter: today the obama campaign tried to spin its way what was by any measure not the greatest night the president had. accusing mitt romney of basically lying during the debate. david axelrod said he was completely untethered of the truth.

romney campaign respond to that, accusing the obama campaign of false attacks, petulent statements and lies of their own. megyn. megyn: john roberts, thank you. last night's presidential debate dominating the pages. pictures all over the headlines. here are some we found. look at "the new york post." saying direct mitt. "washington post" writing, romney takes fight to obama. "the boston herald" headlining, four snore years. "the denver post", round one, romney. all headlines are mostly knocking down the president we're hearing from surrogates from the president offering a starkly different reaction. why the spin? we'll debate a little later in this hour. you can also tune in to "hannity" tonight. governor romney and paul ryan together, sitting down with our own sean hannity. it will air 9:00 p.m. eastern time right here on fnc. new questions emerging

today about a 2007 video of senator obama at the time speaking to a group of black ministers about government funding and hurricane katrina victims. listen. >> what's happening down in new orleans? where is your dollar? where is your stafford act money? makes no sense. tells me the bullet hasn't been taken out. [applause] tells me that somehow the people down in new orleans, they don't care about as much. megyn: joining me now for fair and balanced debate, juan williams, fox news political analyst and lars larsen, with compass media networks. guys, welcome. this is still out there. some belief it will have an effect on the race because is may speak to people don't like to see the race division card being played. it shows a very different barack obama than we've seen the past four years in the

white house, juan. what do you think?. >> i think president obama went to elite schools. he certainly knows how to speak the king's english what you will. but he is also a black man and he knows the black church. there he was at hampton university speaking to an elite group of black clergy, black preachers and took on some of the cadences of it i don't think it is threatening. i think people who have been in a black church would think it was black preacher light. the content, quiet storm of black frustration especially in the aftermath from katrina everyone president bush as well, as others government was slow to respond. i don't think there was any controversy about that. i think this is out there, megyn because the 47% video came out and i think this is something that conservatives are putting out now as their version of a secret video intended to hurt the obama campaign. i think it also introduces race in a way that is very divisive.

it is not divisive from obama. it raises racism, as if con church tiff and -- conservative obama supporters. >> i like juan having him on may radio show regularly. he missed the point entirely. we have to understand why he acts the way he does and why he failed as. president bush:. the way he failed he can't get congress to do things with other members of congress from the other side of the aisle to get things done. president obama hasn't been able to do that because from that speech what i hear is a man who says the game is rigged against people because of their sar. it was not rigged in the immediate days after katrina but it was rigged in the months and weeks after katrina, that an american congress said we can ignore these people because they're black. that is the indictment from president obama. if he thinks the game is rigged, that may explain why he can't seem to get anything done in a bipartisan congress.

juan, i think you missed the point on this one. megyn: why do you think this is, because, the thing that i pointed out yesterday when we talking about this, it was tucker carlson of "the daily caller" who broke this and talked about it on "hannity". barack obama made the speech in '07. did was covered mostly by the media but left controversial remarks on the editing room floor and tucker carlson posts the controversial points. media came out five years ago. no one talked about any of this other so what is wrong with talking about it now? why do you say that is an attempt to be racially charged? >> i think tucker talked about back then. megyn: but only portions that were circulated and got any attention. >> let me just say, reporters were in the room, megyn. and, you know, it is not like there was any attempt to quash what was going on there. this wasn't -- >> they ignored it, juan. >> i'm telling you the reason they ignored it lars because nobody thought it

was newsworthy. it didn't even stand out. >> it didn't fit their narrative. that is the problem megyn. juan is ignoring this. this is racially divisive, racially charged statements made by a man now president of the united states who was race bating at the time. these people don't care about you because you're black. it is not hard to interpret that. >> allow me a second. megyn: go ahead, juan. >> lars, you're on target if you understand that what the then candidate obama back in '07, if you understand him as saying this is about racism by the white government, intended to somehow harm new orleans because it was majority black. >> exactly. >> let me tell you, lars, go through the speech. here is what president obama or then candidate obama literally said. he literally says, people ask me is this racism. i say no, it is color-blind incompetence. that is literal quote out of the speech. >> he says, megyn.

go ahead. megyn: we talked about this with tucker yesterday. those were his written remarks and he did say them. >> yeah. megyn: but -- >> then he went off. megyn: before he got to those he ad in ared. so while he had written down that he was going to say, no it was just color-blind incompetence, what he ad-libbed was a part that was much more racially charged and said, that the government was treating the folks in new orleans different than it had treated the folks in florida, the white folks in, was the suggestion. >> megyn, he didn't say white. megyn: no he didn't, but that is what tucker was saying. >> you remember this history. nobody argues that in hurricane andrew there was an extreme largess provided to the residents of florida who at the time were governed by jeb bush, the president's brother. and people -- >> they were all white in florida? >> in terms of providing support for those in new orleans. megyn: in trying to highlight that, lars, what point was the president trying to drive home? difference in treatment with

folks in florida and new orleans. >> yes he was doing that this isn't the first time barack obama said things contradictory within the speech at one point he knows he can throw out the racially charged things and apparently tried to inoculate himself from a charge of racism, this isn't race. it is just incompetence. somehow the incompetence is always aimed at people of color. that is the kind of thing that is the kind of divisive talk that does not bring people together. it belies the president's own claim that he can unite people in america. he hasn't done that in america in the last four years. and this is one of the reasons why. take a look at the black liberation theology that wright subscribed to, he lauded with praise in that speech. eight months later throws him under the bus when is he liability. megyn: last point, juan. marjorie clifton who debated tucker, fine it may be controversyal but now we have four years of an actual presidency to look back on and people will judge themselves whether he was racially divisive president.

>> yeah. in fact lots of people think he hasn't done enough for the black community. the argument would be he has been too color-blind. he has gone out of is way to show he is president of all americans. my feeling is again, this is racially charged but not racially charged from obama. i think from people who are looking for some way to undermined a campaign that looks to be on a winning trajectory. megyn: good debate. thanks so much. >> megyn, thanks. megyn: we have breaking news today on the trayvon martin shooting. george zimmerman, the man charged with pulling the trigger is suing major television network for part of a 911 call it left on editing room floor. nbc knaus came out with a tape seems he inquired about trayvon martin's race when in fact answering the 911 operator's call. that makes its way into a lawsuit. last night moderator jim lehrer looked for stark contrasts between the two nominees. he found a big one in the role of government.

we'll look at the debate today giving people handouts and giving people a hand up. >> the role of government, look behind us, the constitution and declaration of independence. the role of government is to promote and protect the principles of those documents it's time for swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth in easy to use packets. mix it into skillet dishes, for an instant dose of... hell-o! [ female announcer ] get recipes at flavorboost.com. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>> what we're seeing right now in my view a trickle down government approach which has government thinking it can do a better job than free people pursuing their dreams and it's not working and the proof of that is 23 million people out of work. the proof of that is one out of six people in poverty. the proof of that is we've gone from 32 million on food stamps to 47 million on food stamps. the proof of that 50% of the college graduates this year can't find work. we know that the path we're taking is not working. it is time for a new path. megyn: that was governor romney from last night's presidential debate speaking about the role of government in american life. those comments echoing growing concerns in this country about an emergency,

an emerging culture of dependency on taxpayer-funded money. interestingly, fox business network's john stossel just posted a column how he recently sent his team out on the streets of new york city to find out how hard it is to find work. they quickly found 40 job openings, but then during visits to so-called government jobs center in the very same neighborhood, one stossel team member was encouraged to sign up instead for food stamps. 40 jobs sitting all around her. another one, another place told her to enroll for unemployment benefits. no one said, stossel encouraged her to actually get a job. joining me now, alan colmes, host of the alan colmes show. author of, thank the liberals for saving america and why you should. radio host and fox news contributor mike gallagher, who is author of, 50 things liberals hate. fun doing that. >> love to hate. love to hate. megyn: i mentioned that stossel example because it, i mean that is troubling. that is troubling and we

have no reason to believe stossel is just inventing this. and it speaks to a larger point about what happens when the government gets involved in trying to solve people's problems and is it too lazy in terms of just telling them to sign up for a check that is funded by the federal taxpayers? mike, your thoughts? >> this was one of the great moments of a debate where it had many great moments for mitt romney. in fact i'm sure the sun is shining more brightly where i'm sitting than alan in the catacombs. megyn: it literally is. >> i told you. that is a metaphor. but, here's the point. this was a debate where the ideology was allowed to shine. again, the metaphor but the truth of the matter is, there weren't distractions that kept the american people from being able to see this concept and touch and feel this concept of the culture of entitlement. this is where governor romney was at his best. to talk about the work ethic

that america needs to have in order to get back on track again. these are very different views. you know, president obama beliefs in more government. more entitlements. when newt called him the food stamp president, there is factual basis for that. so at the end of the day, this was a chance for the american people, millions and millions of people, tens of millions who tuned in to see this very stark difference and romney i think was at his best. this was the undersold moment of the night where he talked about this culture of government dependency. it was a great, great moment. megyn: alan? >> i'm shocked to hear mike thinking it went well. it did go well for romney last night. most people went in and out of food stamps and in and out of welfare in year-and-a-half. most people don't want to be on the government dole. most people want to work. most people are ambitious is. i don't buy, i'm surprised obama didn't bring up the 47% number last night. i'm surprised he didn't reframe it by saying something like yes, we've

had a number of people on entitlements. we've had a number of people on food stamps. we had to do it to get people out of the bush recession. hopefully over time once we see numbers moving in the right direction, moody's is projecting 10 million more jobs over next 10 years, i'm sorry over next four years. boston consulting saying will get two million manufacturing jobs over the next couple of years. so these are we're on the right track. these are the metrics that need to be brought up and should have been brought up last night in the debate. >> alan, do you know anybody on food stamps or government assistance, alan? >> i do. yeah. >> okay. and i do too. it would be kind of interesting anecdotally to compare notes, because frankly the people i know are not in a hurry to get off. i think that is flat wrong to assert that most people want to be on food stamps for year-and-a-half. the data doesn't back that up. >> i didn't say want to be. most people are in and out of the system in year-and-a-half. the data backs that up. this notion the right promotes that people are lazy, sit on their hinds and

sit on their keisters as reagan would say. they don't want to work. they really want to take government money. you and i don't. megyn: there are some people. >> there are people that is really derogatory and insulting to those that need government assistance. >> that is not fair. i'm not using the word lazy. people take the path of least resistance. megyn: i only have a short time. i also want to get to this. the mitt romney paid made the point, compassion you need yes. you need the government to help. way country came up, neighbors helping neighbors an friends helping others and family in the community. not so much uncle sam, alan. >> that is great if everybody has neighbor to help and organization to go to. not everybody can day pend upon that. when romney said at the same time will cut tax rates from the rich to 35 to 25% or the rich will not pay less than now just disingenuous. megyn: will cut tax rates across the board. not just for the rich. >> numbers don't match up.

he said the rich -- numbers don't work and he was not forced to make the numbers work last night. >> he is not giving, he is not giving tax relief to the wealthy. that is broken talking point. megyn: coming up next, serious update on meningitis.

megyn: fox news alert. five people are now dead in a growing outbreak of deadly meningitis. dozens more are being treated in five states. doctors across the united states are on the lookout for any sign of this rare but deadly disease. trace gallagher has more in l.a.. trace? >> reporter: authorities in tennessee, megyn, this is by the way tennessee is where most of the cases are taking place. this is quote, evolving outbreak. so far five different states affected. take a look at the map.

tennessee as we mentioned most cases with 18. virginia three, north carolina one, florida with two. five have died. three of those in tennessee and one each in virginia and maryland. this is a very rare type of funk fall meningitis. -- fungal. meningitis attacks the brain and spinal cord. but the common denominator in this because not contagious appears to be a steroid given to people who suffer back pain. the steroid was mixed together in a pharmacy in massachusetts temporarily shut down because of this investigation. the problem is, at least 900 people got this steroid in the incubation period is two to 28 days. so doctors say more cases are almost certain to appear. listen. >> it is not a lot of experience in treating this but getting the best experts together to try to formulate what people think may be a good course of action to go and take. >> reporter: yeah, this one

really is baffling the doctors. the symptoms by the way include, severe headache, nausea, dizziness and trouble walking. of the sick who are still alive, some are doing well, megyn, doctors say some are gravely ill. but they definitely say more cases are going to appear in coming days. megyn: wow, just terrible. trace, thank you. >> reporter: yeah. megyn: coming up in "kelly's court", a major tv network now hit with a lawsuit for an edit to a tape that grabbed national attention. george zimmerman's attorneys slamming nbc for editing his 911 calls from the night of the trayvon martin shooting in a way they say made zimmerman look racist. does he have a case? we have an exclusive statement from his lawyer. that is the on the docket in "kelly's court." growing questions about the president's debate performance after several of his surrogates offer a starkly different reaction to a majority of political pundits. that includes some of his split biggest political

supporters. our panel is on it next. >> look, i've got five boys. i'm used to people saying something not always true and keep on repeating it and ultimately hoping i will believe it but that is not the case, all right. i will not reduce the taxes paid by high income americans. stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back

with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about it today. hello?! we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24/7 support and service. call... and lock in your rate for 12 months today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

>> i've said before the president's never satisfied with his performance. he is always challenging himself and he will, this he will review it and if he

wants to make some changes in the next debate he will do so. what he was satisfied with that he went and told the american people the truth and i think he is fairly well-convinced that governor romney didn't meet that standard and so, you know, that is going to be an issue in these coming 30 days. megyn: well that was president obama's senior campaign advisor trying to put the best spin on the president's performance last night. acknowledging that governor romney had a great night but dismissing it only, quote a performance. just part of a coordinated effort by the governor's whole re-election team today, i should say by the president's whole re-election team today, to change the story. change the storyline after last night's debate. by the way, we just got early numbers in, just the last hour indicate more than 50 million people watched that debate. joining me now, fox news contributor ed rollins, who worked on several presidential campaigns including reagan-bush, mike huckabee and michele

bachmann's. and michael meehan, former senior advisor for senator john kerry suggesting it is actually a record breaking viewership that watched last night, more than the first debate in 2008. there were huge, huge numbers of people watching last night. today we have seen the obama team come out and first, they tried to say mitt romney was testy. then they tried to say it was just a performance. now they have come out with an ad suggesting that he was rude. and question, ed, whether, a, that is the best we're going to see from the team, and b, does that have an impact on what we saw last night? >> nothing has an impact on the 55 million people who watched it or anybody who picked up a newspaper today other than the fact that the projection is that romney did a very effective job and he won by all determinations, exit polls, any rest of it. he basically came in with a real gameplan. he laid out in a very gentle way, not a harsh way, all the things he thinks is wrong with the president and the president's plans.

the president for whatever reason was not able to defend himself and didn't choose to defend himself. i think there is no question that romney basically now has momentum. i think we will probably catch by the next debate he will catch at least in the national polls, probably in the state polls. this race will close up. it's a close race. our side is very energized. republicans across this country today think there is no reason we can't beat obama which has been our dream for the last two years. megyn: in debate prep, senator robb portman portrayed barack obama. he told them there wasn't one question came up they hadn't pressed governor romney on. there was so much he left on editing iting table for he didn't get hit by barack obama. today some questioned whether your former boss, john kerry, was the right guy to play mitt romney in the debate prep with barack obama. someone on fox news suggesting earlier today he wants to be secretary of state if barack obama wins a second term. is he right guy to really press his buttons and get in

his face for debate thoughts? your thoughts? no the campaign going on for 2,000 days. john kerry prepared with all the answers mitt romney given. i'm not sure practice is really the question here. i think the bigger question was, were there things that happened in the debate last night that could come back to haunt governor romney. in his own voice he said the medicare plan he has is to move to voucher system. we haven't had him on the record to the camera saying that yet. there were definitely things that happen. i agree with ed, that 58 million people did watch us on tv. but half the people who will vote didn't watch on tv. a lot will do with how the campaigns both used what was said last night in the coming 33 days. megyn: michael doesn't seem, you know, that concerned about it, ed. we've seen a lot of folks on the left from obama's team, obama's team and other who support him going after everybody. from mitt romney to the moderator, really going after jim lehrer, saying where was he? he needed to take more control. we had even chris wallace on fox news last night thought

he did inadequate job. discussion among the anchors, was we enjoyed seeing the moderator get out of the way so the two candidates could be heard. what do you think?. >> first of all i think high level debate. i think the president had an off night all though you have to remember historically presidents don't do well. ronald reagan's whose campaign i managed did terrible in the first debate against mondale. george w. bush did terrible. jimmy carter did terrible. george h.w. bush did terrible. presidents don't get pushed around when they're president in the white house. nobody stands up whether john kerry or anybody else push him around. i don't think he was on. he couldn't defend his own programs. he thought it was beneath him and that attitude came in through all the way. no question mitt romney knew the ballgame was yesterday. he was looking forward to make his case. debated extremely well 20 some odd debates when republican primariry. he is much stronger debater than four years ago. my sense he will be a strong

debate all the way through. megyn: michael, i want to ask if romney did sufficient job connecting with american people that he needed to do? so question he did on sparring on points but did he connect? there were a couple moments he tried to or maybe he did. i want to get your take. first commenting on barack obama acknowledged it was his wedding anniversary last night. listen here. >> congratulations, to you, mr. president on your anniversary. i'm sure this was the most romantic place you could imagine here with me. [laughter] congratulations. megyn: there was that moment. there was this moment where he went after everyone's favorite culprit, big bird. >> what things would i cut from spending? well, first of all i will eliminate all programs by this test. if they don't pass it. is the program so critical it is worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? if not i will get rid of it. obamacare is on my list. i apologize, mr. president. i use that term with all respect. >> i like it.

>> okay good. i'll get rid of that. i will stop subsidy to pbs. i like pbs. i love big bird. i like you too. megyn: last but not least the sound bite we cut talking about how he didn't understand barack obama's charge about setting, how you get a tax break for sending jobs overseas. listen here. >> second topic, which as you said get a deduction for taking a plant overseas. look i've been in business for 25 years. i have no idea what you're talking about. i maybe need to get a new accountant but the idea that you get a break for shipping jobs overseas is simply not the case. what we do have right now is where i like to bring money from overseas back to this country. megyn: your thoughts? >> well, i think that, mitt romney was trailing president obama on the likeability factor. the clips you show show mitt romney being more likeable than ones average voters see on given night at rally and crowd, he comes across much sterner while banging it away. he has moderated tone in

that debate. the question whether he can do it. his campaign talked about etch-a-sketch moment. maybe that is the case. given six weeks romney had coming into the debate. wash upon post had poll. president would win with the debate. he suffered from low expectation. >> he benefited from low expectations? >> he benefited from low expectations. i know in the kerry campaign in 2004 we had a lot of high-fives day after first debate. there is lot more ground left to go. i think obama team is prepared to take advantage of some of the things like the medicare voucher issue that romney put on the table. megyn: that is good point. history books confirm what he said, ed, how kerry won the first debate but never had a president kerry. >> this race is not over by my neens. what it is romney is back in the game. if romney had a bad lies night it would have been over. i think this today our party is energiesized. party people won't put money in congressional races. campaign team is energized.

people trying to figure it out today are axelrod and those guys. i think to certain extent what he did very effectively last night laid out differences with a scalpel, not with a hatchet. he basically kept coming book to jobs. hear is the conditions of the country in very clear terms and here's how we basically fix it by creating more jobs. megyn: lot of folks on the left felt the president missed opportunities to quote, fact check, some of governor romney's assertions. david axelrod went on msnbc this morning and told them it is their job to fact check the assertions. so we'll see whether president obama gets more aggressive on that score as these debates go forward. next one is vp debate in kentucky next week. thank you guys both so much. >> thank you. >> thanks, megyn. megyn: a new twist own an ugly legal battle. a major television network facing a lawsuit from george zimmerman the way it editing the 911 call he made on the night that he shot 17-year-old trayvon martin. we will play you the he had

debted -- edited tape and debate the lawsuit's chances in "kelly's court". come nell oliver north reporting from afghanistan reminding us on the people that make the ultimate sacrifice on those who defend our freedom. >> this is one who got the a tacked earlier this morning. we'll find out exactly what happened. one of our secure villains. we're getting out talking to the people -- villages. to see what they have to say. we're here for the people. ve la.

but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that

accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already e in the one supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. megyn: "kelly's court" back in session. on the docket today, the man who shot and killed unarmed teenager trayvon martin taking a major tv network to court. in an update to a story we covered extensively here. george zimmerman who is still awaiting trial for second-degree murder is filing a lawsuit against nbc we're told. the complaint over the network's selective editing of a 911 call that aired in the spring. back in february mr. zimmerman was a neighborhood watch captain in florida.

that is when he claims he shot the 17-year-old and did it in self-defense. he called 911 before he pulled the trigger. hear is the edited version of the call that aired on nbc. >> this guy looks like he's up to no good. he looks black. megyn: well, the network forced to launch an investigation after that clip aired because, here's how zimmerman's call actually went. >> this guy looks like he's up to no good or he is on drugs or something. it is raining and he is just walking around looking about. >> okay. this guy, white, black or hispanic? >> he looks black. megyn: nbc news since let three people go over that. but is that enough? zimmerman apparently thinks not. joining me her said colwinnings fox news legal analyst and mark, a former prosecutor and defense attorney. i understand you have spoken with zimmerman's attorney. what can you tell us? >> that's correct. i first learned the lawsuit

is not definitely going to be filed. they're quote, contemplating whether to file it. i know they have some hurdles proving this case and actually getting damages. no to say nbc screwed up. they admitted liability, quite frankly that type of he editing we can come to expect from shows like honey boo-boo and keeping up with the kevorkians not from nbc. megyn: soon to be released. >> but, this what they did was outrageous. that is what o'mara called it. >> right. megyn: mercedes, if they decide to file this lawsuit will it prevail? zimmerman will apparently claim he was defamed by this. rightly or wrongly very high standard to prove that. >> it is. you have to show actual malice. frankly how could you not show malice? reckless disregard for the truth here? when you have such a full and complete tape where the dispatcher asked zimmerman is he white, black or his panic. he said he looks black. it was such a botched up jobe by the network.

it was unbelievable. megyn: how do you blame it on nbc as opposed to the person who made the edit. >> certainly, if it is ratified what due diligence did you put in place? do you know what your editing floor is doing these types of cuts. megyn: no, no. what tv network, what tv network has the management in the edit bay? these things are done by producers or editors to make decisions and in this case a bad one, mark. >> that is the challenge. these all lawsuits are not easy to win. the issue will always be, how was george zimmerman harmed? for a moment he was. they created hysteria. people thought he was clearly a racist, in spite of the fbi later finding there was no evidence of racism. ultimately people continue to make their own inferences, based on the facts, that he shot and killed an african-american unarmed teen with nothing but the skittles and iced tea. megyn: i don't think that is right at all. i don't think the question in the case whether zimmerman was harmed.

he was clearly harmed. i don't even think that is in dispute. >> but to what extent? megyn: can you pin this on nbc? a company is not automatically liable for what a staffer does. also the question is whether he can make the case because zimmerman, i think nbc would argue was a public figure when it happened. the standard for a public figure it recover on defamation claim is actual mall lace. proving that nbc, if nbc comes in and prove it made a mistake a bad one but a mistake then it gets off, mercedes. >> look what they actually did? they made the man look like he was targeting him because he was black. because he killed had kid because of color of his skin. it was so out rain just. megyn: what is network reaction to that once it was brought to light? they fired three people. some people say they dragged their feet. many people believe that. >> they will look at to see what did you do to prevent something like this happening? this is something so extreme. what did you put in place. management across the board

become liable, culpable in these types of situations if they don't have the proper due diligence. what is the oversight? megyn: you have to look at the standard in the industry and i am telling you that no network sends senior management into the he had it bay to approve the way a quote, seasoned producer, that is what they said was at issue here, is working with an editor to edit a tape. unless they had knowledge that the editor was bad news and had history of doing that, how do you pin it on the network? >> that is the challenge. incompetence would be one reason they could point to. poor choices. rise to level of malice, it it was that easy a lot of checks would be written. doesn't happen that often. megyn: good to see you. reaction to the presidential debate not just here in the united states but overseas. we'll go to afghanistan to find out what our troops thought. colonel oliver north is live with their reaction next.

call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula.

megyn: well as we decide who is best to lead our country we can not forget the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect us every day. colonel oliver north watched our debate with special ops troops in afghanistan and he joins us live with their reaction. colonel? >> this is the small special operations base in helmand province and last night there were a bunch of troops that stayed up until 0 dark 30 to watch this debate. troops and contractors here and can't give exact number because it is classified but not many, were enthuse asic about what they saw. and i don't think they have given up on hope and change and some of us hope will change.

will tell you they like to have this debate take place at a better hour of the day because getting up just before dawn to watch it is tough. the reason for that is because of how hard they're working out here. here is just some of what we've been seeing the last --. this is a glimpse of afghanistan of the future. it has been a kinetic war for the u.s. and nato forces and now it is being turned over to the afghans. this unit right here is a afghan special forces unit accompanied by u.s. special forces. we're about to go to an afghan local police check point that was hit just a few hours ago with enemy fire. >> this is one that actually got attacked early this morning. we'll go in here to find out exactly what happened. afghan fire being fired at afghan police. they're the new target for the taliban because they're interrupting what the taliban would otherwise be doing in little towns just like this. >> this is one of our secure villages. what we're doing is just getting out and just talk to the people to see what they have to say. we're here for the people.

>> this is an all-afghan operation. if we're going to win this war, this the way it is going to happen, afghans proebb iting fellow afghans from the taliban and foreign enemies. megyn, forgive me for saying alison before. i can't see you. i know you can see me. all the troops out here love you. megyn: thank you, colonel. alison was supposed to be in for me but i made it back in time. a presidential debate that we're deciding our next commander-in-chief? >> yes, indeed they do. and they're very, very engauged in what's happening back in the states. many of them will be back in time for vote. some won't get back. they will have to vote by absentee ballot. i talked to several of them today got ballots online and put them out to the apo today. megyn: good for them. we should prioritize anybody's vote and make sure

they get their ballot, men and women in uniform. a pleasure to see you. the i should thank alisyn camerota who was ready to sit in today. you have a tired version of me but me for better or worse. what a difference can 90 minutes make. the romney campaign finding fresh momentum after the first presidential debate as the obama camp goes into spin mode. fox news's continued coverage what it means for the race for the white house. stay with us

>> my experience as a governor is if i lay down a piece of legislation and say it is my way or the highway, i don't get a lot done. the way thomas "tip" o'neill and ronald reagan worked together, when ronald reagan ran for office he laid out principle he would foster, lowering tax rates. he said he would broaden the base. you said the same thing, you will simplify 9 tax code and broaden the base, those are my principles bringing down the